


Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 6

by Zurrunba



Series: Cantera [6]
Category: Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation, Cantera, Fillian Empire, Galactic Empire, Gen, M/M, Science Fiction, galaxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurrunba/pseuds/Zurrunba
Summary: The Galactic Empire has fallen, with kings, tyrants, and other rulers scrambling to seize power in systems across the galaxy. One such ruler is the Tyrant of Fillia, who thirty years before had crushed a rebellion from the planet Cantera, leaving desolation in its wake. Now the people of Cantera just wish to get on with their lives, but then from somewhere the tyrant gets wind that perhaps things weren't as calm and docile on that planet as the King of Cantera portrayed.Just when king Hiero thought that he knew all the threats his kingdom faced, someone from the king's past unexpected shows up in the cargo of a trader vessel, the former queen of Cantera with a warning for the king. His nephew's wife was planning a coup to put her husband on the throne and was enlisting the aid of a neighboring enemy to do so. Could he convince the former queen to help deal with the threat?
Series: Cantera [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605262
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 6

King Hiero of Cantera looked across the table from the woman he hadn’t seen for two years. In fact, the last time he saw her was just before the trip she left on and never returned from. The ship she’d supposedly been on had blown up after a hyper jump that went bad. Hyper jumps going bad were so rare that people began whispering that it hadn’t been an accident. 

Now here she was, Moira Tillior, the head of the wealthiest merchant family of Cantera, and Hiero’s former wife; the former queen of Cantera. Their marriage had been annulled just three weeks before her disappearance. The king held the chip she’d passed to Captain Zurx in his hand, not sure where to begin.

“We’re alone, your Grace. Are you going to say something?” Moira asked.

“Yes Moira, we’re alone. So cut the formality nonsense. Where have you been and what is this you’ve brought me? It’ll be much quicker if you tell me the basics before I check the details. Then you can disappear again as you will. I won’t bother searching for you this time.”

Moira looked away. That might not have been the best way to get her to talk, but he really didn’t feel like being too sensitive at a time like this. There was danger within the realm, but there always was. What kind of trouble would cause someone to come out of hiding after feeling compelled to do so for so long?

“I was hoping that Zurx and your friend Grij could keep me out of it. I don’t want to be back on the holoscreens again for all Cantera, and probably Fillia to see.”

“They snuck you in here to me without being detected. Few people know what you look like without all the ceremonial regula added. Now tell me about Lorn and Tonya.”

She remained silent a little bit longer before speaking, “There was a somewhat secret trade mission that was organized between one of the generals of Yllul and our neighbor Vash.”(Vash was one of the planets that had originally sided with Cantera during the revolt from Fillia, but now had somewhat questionable relations. When you’re on the losing end of a war, allies aren’t always easy to come by). “I accidentally came across it when some of my merchants were exploring new markets. Military leaders of Yllul generally don’t make these kinds of direct trading arrangements, but one can easily say there’s always a first time. I decided to look into it.

“Instead of just some kind of insider get rich scheme with the use of personal connections, I found out that there was a lot more being traded than under the table goods and shared trading knowledge. Some weapons were being passed back and forth, which is common enough that, though not strictly speaking legal, it’s not treasonous. What was treasonous was the plans that were intercepted on a trip I’d taken to Gondor. That out of the way planet is a place of a lot of shady deals.”

“We all know what kinds of things happen on Gondor. That’s why we do so much of our own large-scale trading through there. One of our fears is that the tyrant might make a play at snatching that planet for himself.”

“You know that’s a very unlikely long-shot,” she said. “That place would be impossible for them to control, at least for a very long time, and they had other things to worry about. Yllul not the least of them.”

The king stood up and paced back and forth while Moira remained seated. The guards remained immobile. She needed to be kept out of the public eye for now. No matter what she wanted it would be impossible to kept the fact that she was alive a secret. She could make another disappearing act, but it would be even more difficult to pull off next time. Her family ventures would still be going on and a savvy civil servant would be able to follow the money and find her. But he didn’t have to tell her that. 

“Okay, let’s take everything you said at face value. What would be your recommendation?”

“I’m not an advisor, Hiero. I couldn’t in good conscience sit on this without informing you.”

“That’s rather noble of you, Moira, but you could’ve snuck this through other channels to get it to me. You wanted me to know it came from you. As for advising, not being an official counselor hasn’t kept you from giving advice before. So, what’s stopping you now?”

This time she remained silent, staring off at one of the walls. She was determined to keep up an air of aloofness, but one doesn’t delve into the realms of interstellar trade and survive without being familiar with the conditions one was working with. 

“What should I do, then. Moira? Should I just snatch up Tonya? She does seem to be the focal point about all this. Did you know that her mother was caught conducting treason and espionage by allowing spies on and off the planet at will?”

If he was looking for something to startle her out of indifference, that did the trick.

“Eileen, treason? Are you sure? What could possibly make that happen?”

“Stupidity and gambling debts. So, you see some of my predicament here. If I go and snatch Tonya up, I’ll likely be forced to do the same with Lorn. Then Lyam, who until now I’m sure has been faithful to us, might change his mind about his loyalties. In the end we’ll then have to have that whole family rounded up, which would prick a lot more people’s toes.”

“You’re the master manipulator. You’ve been scheming through competing factions for years. Certainly, you can think of some way to manipulate the situation until whatever happens between Fillia and Yllul.”

There were a couple ways he could think of to possibly use Tonya’s activities to his advantage so long as he knew what they all were. If any of them include more assassination attempts, he’d have to just eliminate Tonya from the scene altogether. Likely the same way he’d done Eileen. 

“Come now, Moira. You didn’t get to the position you did by dodging challenges and overcoming the odds. While you were gathering all this to have it brought to me you must’ve had some ideas about what we could do about it.”

Sitting in the chair she looked away from the king and stared at one of the walls where there happened to be a picture of one of the great natural wonders on this planet, a rock formation with four tilted pillar shaped rock formation with pointed ages stand on top of each other. The king had gone there a few times and had always found it worth the trip to view. No photo really did it justice.

“Balance, your highness. Weighing the positives and negatives isn’t always the easiest task, but there might be a balance here, even with Eileen having betrayed you. “

“That balance could require your direct involvement, Moira. You know that.”

“I do,” she acknowledged with a sad expression on her face.  
__________________________________--

Grij had a hunch about some of the spy activity done by one of the groups of plotters who wished to assassinate the tyrant. They’d assumed that only one of those who’d snuck through Aru Station with the aid of Eileen had been part of a rebel group while the others had answered directly to the tyrant. That wasn’t so clear anymore. Several little activities of one visitor in particular caught his interest. Now that he knew something about these spies, he’d been able to track several of their movements. And there was evidence that Eileen knew more than she was telling. More specifically, more about what her daughter had been up to.

Was it motherly affection that caused her to plead for them to not go after Tonya, or was Eileen herself aiding her daughter. The latter sounded unlikely, though a lot of things about her had been unlikely until they happened. What he suspected was that she knew something was going on, but didn’t want to be the one who informed on her daughter.

Prince Lorn needed to be approached first. Then moved out of harm’s way while they moved in on his wife. That marriage was an arranged one, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be upset if she was taken away. Then having two members of that prestigious family disappear or removed on grounds of treason would be a shock across the Fillian Empire, not just Cantera. Yllul may decide to simply strike right at Cantera, rather than the Fillian home planet in that case. The tyrant himself might just decide to let Cantera be decimated before he came to defend it. Anyone with a brain knew that Cantera couldn’t fight alone against an all out attack from Yllul. 

Eileen was kept in a rather obscure suite that sat about two hundred feet below ground. There was only one way in and out of there and it was guarded by ten people who he trusted. She needed to be accessible to the authorities, but in a place as impossible to break into as anything can be. At some point she would have to be moved again to another secure place, likely in another building. Having any prisoner like her in one place too long would lead to some complacency and increase the likelihood of people finding out that, first, she was a prisoner of the realm, and second where she could be found. 

One always had to take various passages when working their way down here. What they didn’t need is to have people able to follow his steps to get to the prisoner. Likely they were going just a little overboard with their precautions, but this would had betrayed them and they couldn’t take the chance that she might not have told them everything she’d done. 

Getting to the unmarked door of Eileen’s prison, he told the guard to open it. The three locks on the door were opened, revealing a short pathway to another door. This one was opened by another key. When none of the guards were present that section between the two doors held a kind of gas chamber that would fill with a lethal dose before the person could make more than three steps. 

The room they entered was comfortable and some might call luxurious, if not for the fact that it was not a place one can just walk out of. A luxurious prison for special prisoners. There was essentially one large room and then a separate bedroom and bathroom, both of which weren’t very large, but still would be the envy of many palace guardsmen. If not for Eileen’s position and history with the kingdom she’d never be kept in a place this nice. She wasn’t in the front room. In fact this room looked like there had been a lot of activity. Had someone been allowed in here? It was almost like she was given some conjugal visitor and they made good use of their time. He knew for a fact that no such thing had been sanctioned, so what could be the cause of this?

Signaling to the guards around him to keep an eye out for anything unusual he headed for the bedroom. A blaster was in his hand just as he came through to scan the room. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. Lying on the bed was Eileen with her eyes closed and her hands wrapped around the hilt of a knife thrust through her chest. 

Grij and three others rushed forward to check the woman’s pulse. She was dead. The look on her face was one of pain. Apparently, she hadn’t died quickly. This was supposed to be made to look like a suicide. Under normal circumstances he might say it did look like a suicide. Her hands were on the hilt, the bed was somewhat slept in, and a pool of blood was forming by her left side from the open wound. But so much of this looked too perfect, and the fact that there was an open door in one of the corners of the room where he’d swear didn’t exist before told him suicide was the least likely explanation.

“Where does that door go?” he demanded.

From where he saw the hinges and the broken sections of wall this door had been either hidden or built over a long time ago, and forgotten. Three guards ran through the door. Returning five minutes later one of them said, “We now know where the knife came from.” 

In his hand were five shiny antique looking knives that were clearly a matching set. The other room had been a hiding place for someone who wanted to keep some precious things hidden, then had been forgotten. There were no tunnels, doors, or anything else that someone could sneak through, so whoever killed her had to enter through this door. Nobody could explain what had happened here.

“Please tell me Gale’s credentials weren’t used,” Grij said.

“That at least we can confirm. Iar’s credentials have been removed from the system.”

“Alright then. I want you to scour all these rooms, including that hidden one. Look for anything that can help us understand what happened here.”

He walked out with a feeling of both rage and fear. Now who else is there around here that can get into these places to kill people? Someone who didn’t want Eileen talking. Even with his added measure security kept failing.  
_________________________________--

“Tical, I hope putting you in charge of agriculture wasn’t a mistake,” the king said to the replacement he’d chosen for Iar’s post. “We need to make sure that there’s very little disruption in our food production and trade.”

Rion Tical sat behind the desk that had been vacated by his murdered predecessor. The king was taking no chances here, giving the new counselor a strong body guard that he trusted. This building had been renovated as well. There was no question as to the skill he had in organization and working with the production, it was his skills with trade that was the big concern. As Iar’s second in command he hadn’t been needed to work with trade outside the system. 

“Your Grace, I am perfectly capable of continuing the policies that my predecessor had in place. There are several contacts that he had that I am not privy to. I will take measure to either discover who they are or develop new ones. That is the best anyone can do.”

The king looked at him for several seconds before speaking. “Are there any concerns you have now that you’ve had a look at the state of things? How much damage has Eileen done?”

The counselor pulled out a tablet, typed in several codes, and then handed it to the king. What was on the screen was disturbing. Many things here he either already knew, or strongly suspected. The special traders who worked the spider’s web of Gondor were delivering information about some of the activities of Fillia that had just started about two years before. (Strangely enough about the time Moira disappeared). There was a single reference to Yllul and Fillia, but all it seemed to be was a diplomatic mission to discuss something. That was something to take note of. Those two would normally conduct such activity on one of their own worlds. 

Then he saw the reference to the planet Duran. Strange how that planet seemed to get intertwined with the tyrant’s nets. The king’s friendship with Governor Yshon of that planet looked as strong as ever, but then the Fillian tyrant kept tightening some kind of noose there. Someone in the tyrant’s circle had to have something on him or something to squeeze with to get such draconian concessions. Ever since he’d first read about the first treaty Yshon had signed with Tyrant Yth he wondered if he might have to do something concerning Duran to keep it from becoming playground for the empire’s machinations. He’d run through a lot of ideas either contacting Yshon or using intermediaries to determine what agreements still were in effect between them. His inability to speak with the governor and the increased presence of the tyrant’s personal influence led him to believe that something had to be done about it, just like the imperial base in the Rhea Alta system. Finally, with the assistance of General Shore and Captain Tya he thought he had one, albeit a risky one.

Sitting in his office he stared at the screen through which he spoke with Captain Tya. She wasn’t in uniform, as she technically wasn’t on duty. Interesting, when she wasn’t in uniform and had her hair down, she was really quite beautiful, but best not to think on those lines, especially considering the two plans he had involving a certain ex-wife in.

“Moira will be contacting you shortly about the actions that are to be taken and the contacts that we need to use on Duran. Make sure everything will be ready and that the general knows what to expect.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” she said. 

The screen winked out, leaving the king to ponder what he, and Moira, had set in motion. The woman was an expert in quite a few things. After Duran’s government fell it will be made known that Moira Tillior was not only still alive, but that she and the king would be remarried. That will cause quite a stir. One that they both felt could be used to tilt the scales politically. 

“You seem unsure of yourself all of a sudden, Hiero,” said Moira as she came into the room from the side office where she’d been hiding. 

Smiling, the king replied, “I’ve never had to run so many schemes simultaneously with such precision before. If you weren’t here I might think it was impossible.”

Walking up behind him she wrapped her arms around him. She was dressed in her night shirt and was once again reminding him that he needed rest before going into the next couple phases of three of their plans. 

“Moira, are you sure you want to go through with this? Once we give Tya the signal there’s no turning back.”

“I realized a few things while in hiding. Some of it about you, some about the kingdom and Fillia, as well as about the way things work. I feel this is the best option for all concerned. Besides Cantera itself my family’s interests are being threatened by forces in Fillia’s Empire. The best thing to do would be to join with someone with enough clout to protect our interests; and if I’m going to be married it might as well be someone I can stomach being in the same bed as.”

The king shook his head. She never did really talk about feelings, but when it came to politics you always had to read between the lines.

“I seem to recall you being offended at the idea of being seen as breeding stock.”

Moira came around and sat by him so he could look her in the eye.

“Like I said, I’ve learned a few things over the past couple years about many things. I know that you had some conflicting emotions about things, but that you did care about how I felt. Otherwise you wouldn’t have allowed the annulment in the first place. Perhaps more important in our case we both are in need of heirs to continue our family interests. No matter how I might feel about being breeding stock, we both need them. When they come, I know I’ll be glad to have them and will care about them, no matter how scared I might be at the prospect.”

Well, there is a blunt answer, and one that made a lot more sense than her suddenly realizing just how much excitement she would find in having children. That wouldn’t have been believable.

He reached out and stroked her face. Then move to her long black hair. A good deal of rest would be nice before worrying about the orders to give. They couldn’t be given for at least eight hours anyway if he didn’t want to risk certain actors to get wind of it from their perches in the palace.

A beep came up on the tablet. Now what? Just when he was thinking he could relax for a moment. Reluctantly he hit the button to send the message through.

‘Eileen Iar has been murdered’ was written on the message sent by Grij, with nothing else accompanying it. He stared at the screen and then looked over at Moira who was also staring at it.

“I didn’t see that coming,” the king said.

“All possibilities should be considered,” Moira said, leaning back in her chair in deep thought.

He sighed. “With Eileen dead, how can that affect our plans?”

“As far as Doran goes, change nothing. When it comes to Tonya, the death of her mother could get her to act as soon as she hears about it. Does she know that her mother is in custody?”

“I don’t think so, otherwise she’d have contacted me demanding some explanation. She’ll likely figure out the fact she’s in confinement by tomorrow. I might be able to keep the fact that Eileen is dead quiet for another day.”

Moira stood up and stretched. Then she put her hands on his shoulders. “My advice would be to move on Tonya tomorrow night, before she knows of her mother’s death and before she can learn of Doran. Prince Lorn can be moved in on later. He’s looking more and more like a dupe than anything else. Too bad we couldn’t be sure of just what Eileen knew about her daughter’s activities.”

Not to mention what Lyam might do, the king thought to himself. 

“Then we can make the wedding announcement around the same time we seize Tonya, with our plans to be married the next day. That way everyone’s attention will be on that. We can drag the distractions on past the point of the fall of Duran’s government.

“Now it’s time for you to sleep, Your Grace,” she said with the matter of fact way that a doctor might give. “It’s going to be a busy twenty-four hours come morning.”

He couldn’t argue with that, if he were able to sleep.  
_______________________

The general, administrator, and scribe on Fillia met again to discuss their plans for removing the tyrant. Several events were racing forward faster than they’d expected, and they had to make several adjustments in order to keep up. Word had reached the tyrant, and therefore the general, that Yllul was restless and moving a lot of their fleet around in the direction of the Fillian Empire. Exactly when to strike at the tyrant was what they needed to decide. If they removed the tyrant before Yllul attacked they’d have to make sure the transition between rulers went as smoothly as possible. If they waited until after the tyrant dealt with Yllul, provided they pushed the attack back, the tyrant might be too strong and organized to be eliminated for a long time. They weren’t interested in waiting that long, but what choice did they have? Toppling him as Yllul was invading could destroy the empire itself without them being able to retake control. Having Yllul ruling the empire, or any part of it, was unacceptable.

“So, what do we know about Yllul’s plans when it comes to Fillia?” the scribe asked.

“It depends on which of the members of the parliament happen to be in control,” the general said. “Right now it looks like the total conquest faction has the upper-hand.”

The administrator was drumming his fingers through the conversation. When the others had finished he piped in, “What we’re doing then is what?”

The other two looked at each other, but remained silent. When the tyrant was toppled it might be the military that restored order, but it was the bureaucrats who would have to make sure things were running the way they should. 

The man continued, “I can see our need to support the tyrant once Yllul invades and then help him through the process till we have the enemy on the run. But once it is clear we were turning back the enemy that’s when we should strike directly at the tyrant, then our general here would have to make sure he can step in and grab the reigns. It would be best that no one know the tyrant was dead for several days. By then we could solidify our hold and the navy would be fighting for months before Yllul is finally defeated.”

The conversation continued on for ten more minutes before they felt they had things planned out to their best advantage. Pending some unforeseen problem it looked like it might work. Soon it would be time to move against the other groups who had their eyes on toppling the tyrant. Especially the republicans with their strange utopian ideals.  
_________________________-

Around noon on the day after Eileen’s death and Hiero and Moira set their plans in motion the king received a message with no name on it requesting a conversation with no location given. It was written in a strange kind of old writing style that was really only seen in ancient documents. Strange though it was, he was pretty sure he knew who sent it. Excusing himself from some of the activities he’d planned for the day (most of which were ceremonial at this time) he changed into some less distinguishing clothes and arranged for a special transport. Except for the three body guards he had with him he didn’t let anyone know where he was going.

Finally, they stopped at one of the parks where large groups of people visited on a regular basis. The one female guard he brought with him he had dressed in a nondescript outfit so that the two could possibly pass for a couple on the road. Moira would forgive him for just holding this woman’s hand and possibly giving her a kiss to cover for them. He’d arranged for his face to look quite a bit different. The only way anyone could know who he was would be those who might have followed him from the palace. When it came to the Foundation liaison on Cantera, he’d catch onto the clues he’d left. This was the place they generally agreed to meet when nothing was spoken of location.

“I see you brought some fair company today, sir,” said a man coming around from behind the bench he sat on. “Who might I ask is this?”

“You might ask, but just call me Tina,” the woman said with a strained smile as she did a quick scan all around to make sure no danger was near.”

“Tina it is, then,” Tempus replied.

The man sat down on the other side of ‘Tina’ and began eating out of a bag of peanuts. “May I assume you don’t mind speaking openly in her presence.”

“You may. Now what is it that’s got you wanting to talk with me so urgently?” the king asked. This wasn’t the most opportune time for him to make the request. Though the king could easily just discard the note, the chance to talk to the Foundation man was so rare lately that he wanted to find out what he could. From what he’d heard Terminus had recently managed to increase it’s influence in the galaxy, meaning gaining control over another section. 

“I just heard some interesting news about the former queen,” he started. “Am I correct in assuming that she is currently residing in the royal palace?”

That was bound to come out in several places before he wanted. There would be a general announcement that night. Confirming it to Tempus wouldn’t hurt. So he did so.

“Interesting. Are you aware of the tyrant’s intentions in the next week?”

That didn’t sound good. “Other than his desire to destroy us, then no.”

Smiling, Tempus continued, “Well, he isn’t quite planning your destruction yet, but he is planning on a show of force to move some of his navy around his empire. If I’m not mistaken, he’ll be heading out some time tomorrow.”

A show of force. That could mean anything. Was he expecting the king to react somehow? The best thing to do was to hunker down and let the tyrant’s little show pass them by.

“Is there something significant about this show of force?”

“Of course. At the same time that is happening a search mission is being sent out to investigate things at Rhea Alta.”

That he didn’t know, and it could pose some trouble further down the road. They’d left no trace of who they were when the Canteran ships had gone and destroyed that spy base in the nearby system. Even if they did find something, it would be weeks before anything they found could be analyzed and processed.

“That’s interesting, but I have a couple other pressing things to attend to before worrying about something that won’t affect me for at least a month, like a wedding.” It was going to be announced that night as well, so why not tell him? “Of course, you’re invited.”

The Foundation man stared at him in silence for a moment. The smile was gong for a few seconds before returning. “And I can guess who the bride and groom will likely be. Congratulations. I hope that Tina here won’t be offended.” That brough frowns to the two on the bench. “Things seem to move around in so many minute ways in this part of the galaxy. I have to admit that we don’t have much scheming on Terminus quite like how they do here. Nowadays our actions are on mostly larger scales.”

“Like the gobbling up of the Sayshell Sector into the Foundation?”

“That was inevitable with how things were working there with Mayor Brano’s actions ten years ago. She really did know her way around the universe. No one else could’ve managed ousting two members of the Foundation Council without causing a stir.

“But I digress. One other thing I’d like you to know before I fall back into the darkness to watch the fireworks. One of the anti-tyrant groups on Fillia is planning to make its move against the tyrant. Best you be watchful of it.”

After this the envoy got up, gave a quick nod of his head, and began walking down the path opposite from where he and ‘Tina’ had come. Swiftly the king took his companion’s hand and they began walking toward their transport. Was this a reason to make another change to their plans? The sad thing was a lot of this was starting to get his energy going, like he was looking forward to it. Moira’s affect on him was building up already.  
____________________________

On the Fillian home world the people of the palace were gathered to watch their tyrant board his personal vessel. This warship was one of the strongest that they possessed, and he planned to use it in a show of force that his enemies couldn’t ignore. Eight other vessels were armed and being prepared for the tyrant’s plan to show every planet in his empire just who was in charge.

There was a holovised ceremony with a lot of fanfare and cheering for the tyrant on his journey about the empire. Security was heavy, and nobody who wasn’t supposed to be there was allowed within one hundred kilometers of the site. The tyrant’s most trusted people had been chosen to make all the arrangements.

One by one each ship took off from its port. Three from the planet itself and the rest from one of the orbital space stations. To have the greatest effect they planned to get the ships past the major planets as quickly as possible before activated their hyperdrives. A lot of footage would be made public for all to see within the empire and they’d need to be able to choose from the best images they could get. Everything went well till just before passing the last planet. Coming out of hyperdrive one ship, then a second, third, and so forth until there were ten came out facing the tyrant’s ships. They opened fire.

Taken completely off guard the crews scrambled to get their ships ready to fight. They were all hit at least twice before they could organize and return fire. Four of the tyrant’s vessels were destroyed within minutes, the other four, one by one, were disabled and then destroyed. A couple of these ships were of the kind they’d never seen before. Only one attacking vessel was destroyed while three others received major damage. That didn’t matter much to the attackers, for their objective was reached. The tyrant was dead.  
_____________________

All of Cantera was excited to see their former queen Moira appear before them once again on holoscreens all over the planet. Both she and the king spoke at length of his happiness that she’d been discovered alive and well. The usual political wrangling and speech was done to enhance everything to the greatest effect. The events continued for a little over and hour before the ceremony ended. There’d be a wedding the following day. No point in dragging this out when they knew it was going to happen, and they needed their bond to be as strongly seen as possible.

“I think that went well,” said Moira as they boarded their transports to return to the palace. “Will your friend ‘Tina’ be in the palace when we get there?” she asked with a smile.

“In the palace, yes,” the king replied without any embarrassment. “But on the far side helping her husband with security. Her husband is a friend of mine, and I try not to go after my friends’ women.”

“Or any women from what I’ve heard,” she said. “You certainly are nothing like your father. He had about five or six of them on the side for who knew how many encounters.”

“I stopped counting after thirty,” said Hiero. “As long as you’re willing you won’t have to worry about me and any mistresses.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said.

As they entered the palace the king had to go through the usual bureaucratic nightmare that happened after a state ceremony. He contemplated handing these document and legal matters off to one of his counselors, but for some reason he never got around to doing it. With Moira as an excuse he probably would follow through this time.

Finally making it into the royal suites he threw off his royal regula that was only used for ceremonies and got into something more comfortable to start working on the next stage of their plan. Moira did the same. They sat at a desk going through several pads and computers to make sure they hadn’t missed anything important. One thing they came across was several news broadcasts talking about how Governor Yshon of Duran was being accused of corruption and that he’d be soon removed from his position to stand trial.

“Corruption?” Moira asked with eyebrows raised. “You couldn’t have come up with something better? There’s not a single government person who couldn’t be accused of some kind of corruption.”

“True, but this was the easiest one for our agents to use as quickly as we needed. By the end of the day tomorrow our people will be in place to start proceedings to make Duran a dependent, but that won’t be the line we’ll use when we start taking control.”

“Of course,” Moira said.

The two of them laid back on the office couch to see what kinds of things could be pull up on the holovision when they were disturbed by a visitor. If it were anyone but Grij they would’ve let the person wait until he realized nobody would answer; but it was Grij with a grim look on his face.

“Come in, counselor.”

The door opened and the counselor hurried in, almost out of breath. 

“Sir, ma’am, the tyrant’s dead.”

It took a moment for what Grij just said to sink in. The king was instantly on his feet. Moira slowly followed suit.

“Are you sure?” the king demanded.

“Of course I’m sure,” was the reply. “I’ve confirmed it through four sources.”

This was a disaster. The tyrant dead? As much as they hated the man and wanted out from under him, they needed his continued strong hand in his part of the empire until Yllul had been stopped. There would be a huge scramble for power and during that time Fillian would be invaded and a lot of it captured before any organized resistance could materialize.

When he looked over at Moira she shook her head. She clearly had no knowledge of any of it. He didn’t have time to fiddle around now. A couple things had to be taken care of.

“Arrest Tonya Theor at once and lock her away in the basement. Then bring Lorn to me. We need to have a little chat.”

Grij hurried out to follow the king’s orders. Walking over to the desk again he activated his main computer and started sifting through a few files. Moira sat next to him.  
“You know, I was kind of hoping your people had jumped the gun with some creative stroke with that assassination,” the king said.

“My people wouldn’t act that way without a direct order from me,” Moira replied, staring at the same screen. “And I know that this could be bad. Who do you think did it?”

The king couldn’t say. At least not until Grij returned. 

“Your Grace, I have Lorn in custody, but I’m afraid Tonya managed to sneak out about two hours ago without being noticed.”

Right when the ceremony was getting underway. How ironic. He’d held his people back from snatching her for a couple hours on a hunch that she might expose her activities. Well, now she’s gone.

When the king asked for details about the death of the tyrant, he was more and more certain as to who was responsible. Tonya had been secretly interacting with people in Yllul to stir things up. Several ships that had been docked at one of the orbital bases were gone. Tonya was making a bold move of her own. 

“Were any of the ships that attacked the tyrant’s fleet ours?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“I can’t be certain, Your Grace, but obviously we should consider it a possibility until we know otherwise.”

Tonya herself couldn’t directly seize power of Cantera. She wasn’t of the royal line. With Lorn in custody he felt that at least there Tonya couldn’t just walk in and take over.

At least that was his thought until Grij showed him the results of a pregnancy test taken by Tonya that morning. She was pregnant. That really complicated things.

Here ends Part 6 of Cantera: A Foundation Story


End file.
